THE COUNTRY-MANS RECREATION, or the Art of Planting, Grassing, and Gardening in Three Books. by BARKER, Thomas.:

London, printed by B. Allsop and T. Favvcet for Michael Young, and are to be sold at his shop in Bedford-street in Coven-garden neere the New Exchange, 1640.. The first declaring divers waies of Planting, and Graffing, and the best times of the year, with divers commodities and secrets herein, how to set or Plant with the Root, and without the Root; to sow or set Pepins or Curnels, with the ordering thereof, also to cleanse your Grafts and Cions, to help barren and sick Trees, to kill Worms and Vermin, and to preserve and keep Fruit; how to plant and proyne your Vines, and to gather and presse your Grape; how to cleanse and mosse your Trees, how to make your Cider and Perry, with many other secret Practises which shall appear in the Table following. The second treateth of the Hop-Garden, with necessary instructions for the making and maintenance thereof, ... Whereunto is added, The Expert Gardener, containing divers necessary and rare secrets belonging to that art.... FIRST EDITION 1640. Small 4to, approximately 180 x 135 mm, 7 x 5¼ inches, 5 text illustrations to first part, 5 text illustrations to second part on Hoppes, 1 text and 22 plates to last part, pages: [16], 1-127, [1] last page blank; separate pagination for last part, [2], 1-54, bound in quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt lettered black label and gilt rules to spine. Rebacked using the original spine, small repair at head of spine, rubbing to spine, boards lightly stained, corners slightly worn with board showing at tips, edge wear to boards, small brown stains to inner corners of endpapers and a pale ink stamp to first pastedown, verso of last page of text in the Expert Gardener has a neat repair on blank lower margin of verso affecting text on recto, only affecting a few words where the repair was slightly misaligned, easily understood (see attached image), tips of 2 lower corners missing, not affecting text, some light staining and occasional ink spot and tiny nick to margin edges, otherwise a very good copy. Book 1 is an anonymous reprint of "A booke of the art and maner, howe to plante and graffe all sortes of trees" by Leonard Mascall. Book 2 is an anonymous reprint of "A perfite platforme of a hoppe garden" by Reginald Scot, with separate dated title page; pagination and register are continuous. Book 3 is a reissue of "The expert gardener: or, A treatise containing certaine necessary, secret, and ordinary knowledges in grafting and gardening" with its original title page with imprint "London, printed by Richard Herne, 1640". This last work is an enlarged version of "A short instruction verie profitable and necessarie for all those that delight in gardening". See: Rachel Hunt, Catalogue of Botanical Books, Volume 1, page 248, No. 233; Blanche Henrey, British Botanical Literature before 1800, Volume 1, page 236, No. 47; The Cleveland Herbal, Botanical and Horticultural Collection, page 181, No. 199 for a listing of the Hoppe-Garden; ESTC S108874. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE, FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST.